You may have been able to quickly and seamlessly transition between the long car ride to the trailhead and a steep climb in the mountains in your early 20s, but now, you might find it takes longer to get your joints and muscles warmed up and ready to go!
Allowing yourself time to get warmed up ahead of a hike will prime your muscles and nervous system for the task ahead. A good warm up touches on both dynamic flexibility and muscle activation of the areas that are most heavily utilized while hiking – that is, the thighs (quads), hips (glutes), and lower legs (calves). Give these warm up drills a try at the trailhead:
Dynamic Stretches
NOTE: It is important to warm up with dynamic stretches vs. static stretches. Moving into and out of the stretch with several, short duration holds makes a stretch dynamic. Save the long, sustained holds for after your hike!
1. Quad Stretch
How to perform:
- Stand one leg and bend the opposite leg behind you, holding your foot so you can maximally bend your knee as shown.
- Keep your thighs parallel with one another.
Dosing:
- Hold for 5 sec, rest, and repeat. Alternate legs.
2. Dynamic Calf Stretch
How to perform:
- Get into a split stance position so one leg is in front of the other.
- Keeping your back heel firmly on the ground and toes facing forward, drive your hips forward until you feel a calf stretch.
Dosing:
- Hold for 5 sec, rest, and repeat.
3. Standing Pigeon Stretch
How to perform:
- Bend one leg up into a figure 4 position with your shin laying flat across your car bumper.
- Keeping your back flat, square up your chest to your shin and lean your trunk forward until you feel a stretch in your glutes.
Dosing:
- Hold for 5 sec, rest, and repeat.
The dynamic stretches above are geared towards promoting muscle flexibility. After completing 4-5 short duration holds of the stretches above, move right into a set of the following muscle activation exercises to improve blood flow to the muscles that will be used on your hike!
Muscle Activation Exercises
1. Air Squats
How to perform:
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
- Squat by bending your knees and hips at the same rate and dropping your hips towards the ground.
- Keep your heels down, sit your bottom back, and keep your chest upright.
Dosing:
- Perform 1 set of 15-20 reps.
2. Reverse Lunges
How to perform:
- Start by standing tall with your feet together.
- Step one foot behind you and lower your back knee towards the ground as if you are going to kneel down on one knee.
- If able, lightly tap your back knee to the ground and return to standing with feet together.
- Alternate which foot you are stepping back with each rep.
Dosing:
- Perform 1 set of 10 reps each side.
3. Lateral Lunges
How to perform:
- Start by standing with legs wide.
- Shift your weight to one side and sit your bottom back as if you are going to sit in a chair.
- At the bottom, one leg should be bent in a single leg squat position, while the other leg is straight out to your side with the toes facing forward.
- Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.
Dosing:
- Perform 1 set of 10 reps each side.
4. Heel Raises
How to perform:
- Start by standing with your feet hip width apart.
- Raise up onto the balls of your feet as if you are standing in high heels.
- As you raise up, keep your knees straight. Your body should raise straight up rather than moving forward/backward.
Dosing:
- Perform 1 set of 20 reps.
Running through this quick warm up at the trailhead will leave you feeling limber and ready to take on even the most grueling of hikes! Check out this video to put it all together:
Play Video
If you have struggled with hiking-related injuries in the past, or if you simply want to prevent an injury in the first place, but need a little more guidance, click below to schedule a free 15-minute Discovery Visit with our Doctor of Physical Therapy. We will discuss your concerns, injury history, and goals to determine if Physical Therapy is appropriate for you!
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